


OCD

by ashleybenlove



Category: WALL-E (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Community: disney_kink, Gen, Mental Health Issues, OCD is not a joke, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, scrubdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-07 21:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14679966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleybenlove/pseuds/ashleybenlove
Summary: Mo has OCD.





	OCD

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this anonymously in December 2010 on the Disney Kink Meme for the prompt: "Pristine AUTO is not even immune from an OCD M-O. Scrubdown ensues."
> 
> I, like the character in this story, have OCD. So this is an experience I understand.

Austin (sometimes called “Auto” or even “Audi”) saw himself as somebody who was fairly hygienic. He showered nearly daily, he washed his hands after dirtying them, and he did his laundry regularly. His friend and cousin, Mo disagreed strongly.  

 

He understood, given that Mo had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Mo was diagnosed when he was in his early 20s, and was now in his mid-20s. Austin was about a year older than Mo was. Ever since Mo was a child, he had been rather fastidious and anxious, but it got much worse once he was in college.

 

He understood Mo’s OCD tendencies. There was making sure certain appliances were off when he left the house. There was making sure books or DVDs were in alphabetical order. There were the horrible invasive thoughts that were difficult to banish. And then there was the cleanliness compulsion/obsession. That last one was the worse.

 

He had come over to his cousin’s apartment to visit with Mo. Just to visit. He was not there to start an intervention or make him visit his therapist again. When Austin came into the apartment, deciding not to knock (it would have taken a few minutes anyway for Mo to open the door), Mo was vacuuming his floor. Again. Austin took care to remove his shoes and left them by the door. When Mo saw his cousin, he stopped the device.

 

Austin walked over to Mo, and as he reached out to shake Mo’s hand, he noticed Mo’s hands. While not red-raw, it looked like the skin was flaking. Austin sighed.

 

“Mo, are you hand-washing again?” Austin asked him. Mo pulled away from Austin, touching his hands, looking down at the hands.

 

“If I don’t wash my hands, bad things will happen,” Mo said.

 

“No, they won’t.”

 

“Yes, they will. I will get an infection, and I will die.”

 

“No, you won’t,” Austin said it firmly, hoping that Mo would believe him this time.

 

“But what about you? When did you last wash your hands?”

 

“I dunno,” Austin said, truthfully. He didn’t think about that stuff. Why would he? He didn’t write down a log of every time he washed his hands or whatever.

 

“You need to get washed! Come on! You probably have all sorts of germs on your skin right now!” Mo exclaimed.

 

“No, Mo,” Austin disagreed. “I showered this morning; I don’t need to be washed.”

 

Mo suddenly grabbed him by his shoulders and said, “Come on, we need to clean you with a sponge, to make sure you’re clean and won’t get any horrible diseases from germs.” Austin could hear the panic in Mo’s voice. He could even hear Mo’s breathing become short.

 

“Mo, come on. I’m fine. I haven’t had a cold in about two years,” Austin protested as Mo half-dragged, half-pushed Austin into the kitchen.

 

Mo went over to the sink and washed his hands with dishwashing liquid for about a minute. Austin heard Mo breathing deep a few times before Mo poured more dishwashing liquid onto the sponge, got it wet, made the sponge soapy, and walked over to Austin, who had decided to sit down on a chair. Mo began to scrub Austin’s arms with the sponge, first softly then a little bit rougher. Austin hoped that his skin wouldn’t crack or bleed from this. He made a mental note to get skin lotion for him and Mo.

 

This went on for at least ten minutes (Austin lost track): arm scrubbing, hands being scrubbed, face scrubbing, even the skin of his neck was scrubbed!

 

“You do realize you are being irrational, right?” Austin asked him. “That I probably won’t get any horrible diseases from germs.” He could feel the water and soap touching his clothes and on skin covered by clothes, by now. It was starting to become bothersome. Mo didn’t respond immediately, so he said, “Mo?”

 

Mo spoke quietly, “Yes. I do realize this.” He then scrubbed Austin’s wrists. 

 

“Can you stop?” Austin asked. “This feels weird.”

 

Mo silently scrubbed the skin of Austin’s hands, trying to make his fingernails cleaner than they were.

 

“Mo,” Austin said firmly. “I am asking you to please stop.”

 

“Okay,” Mo said softly. And he pulled away from Austin. He then tossed the sponge into the sink. He went to grab a towel from the towel drawer, dampened half the towel and handed it to Austin.

 

“Just like that?” Austin said, as he started to wipe soap off with the towel.

 

“You asked to stop. If I didn’t stop, I would feel bad for offending you, and I would think about it over and over again,” Mo said.

 

“Hey, at least you’re finding ways to avoid some of the OCD issues!” Austin exclaimed. Austin hoped that Mo wouldn’t obsess about this incident. It wasn’t worth the psychological effort.


End file.
